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Japan to turn over nuclear material to U.S.

The U.S. and Japan said Monday that Japan would turn over hundreds of kilograms of nuclear material to U.S. custody, part of nuclear-security measures being announced at a summit in the Netherlands.

The plutonium and highly enriched uranium are currently held by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency at a facility in Tokai, north of Tokyo. In a joint statement, the countries said the material would be sent to a secure facility in the U.S. and converted into less sensitive forms.

The U.S. lent Japan plutonium for research in the 1960s and has been asking for its return. That research plutonium is a fraction of the roughly nine tons of plutonium in Japan.

The U.S. said Japan's atomic agency could continue its research without the need for highly enriched uranium--which could be used to produce a nuclear weapon--or separated plutonium.

The U.S. last year conveyed concerns about the security of surplus plutonium held by Japan, U.S. and Japanese officials said at the time.

China has recently ramped up its criticism of Japan's weapons-grade plutonium and enriched uranium, saying the Japanese stockpile is a risk to nuclear nonproliferation.

Japan's chief government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, said Monday that the Chinese criticism didn't reflect reality. He reiterated the government's position that as the "sole victim of a nuclear attack and an advanced nuclear power nation," Japan has peaceful intentions and its program has been thoroughly vetted by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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